Can I ask the Rebellion developers to produce fewer AI cheats on normal or easy difficulty for a more subtle strategic front?
I have detailed elsewhere in the forums some of these cheats, but will give here only one recent example.
I was playing the Point Blank map TEC v (random) TEC when, about 15 mins into the game I decided to go in for the kill. I owned two planets as did the enemy and I calculated, fairly accurately, that the enemy would lose one its planets, if not its home planet then the adjacent supporting planet leaving the home planet trapped between my forces. I had a Corbet on each of the enemy's planets showing the information I needed. When I did move in, I sent my fleets to both planets, and within 5 to 8 seconds the AI magically produced a starbase and a second capital ship, which even the statistics (if they are to be believed) would deny one of these items was possible. never mind both. I don't think the program was expecting such en masse early aggression, so it produced emergency measures --- cheats.
The AI have cheated in all the editions of SOASE on normal and easy and Rebellion seems no different in this respect.
I like this game a lot and once the taste for it is acquired it becomes very addictive. It's strength is in the bitter/sweet decision making. But I am becoming disappointed by the hour when the game lays down the rules and then goes on to reinvent them when it is convenient to do so. In this sense it is not a strategic game, but more or less a lottery.
I am not clear if a game of this kind can be produced without the AI cheating.
